{"id":15322,"date":"2025-05-30T08:38:51","date_gmt":"2025-05-30T05:38:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oulu.com\/ictoulu\/?p=15322"},"modified":"2025-05-30T08:38:52","modified_gmt":"2025-05-30T05:38:52","slug":"how-to-build-a-business-that-wins-insights-from-colin-browns-workshops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oulu.com\/ictoulu\/news\/how-to-build-a-business-that-wins-insights-from-colin-browns-workshops\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Build a Business That Wins \u2013 Insights from Colin Brown\u2019s Workshops"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At a recent two-part workshop hosted at Business Oulu\u2019s Startup Station, entrepreneur coach Colin Brown helped founders and business leaders uncover what it really takes to grow a winning company. The events brought together a diverse group of participants to dive deep into the core challenges and growth opportunities for modern businesses \u2013 especially in Finland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s what we learned:<\/strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

One of the most powerful questions Colin posed was simple, yet painfully relevant:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWhy is no one buying (more) your product?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The answer often lies in misunderstanding your customers \u2014 or worse, guessing their needs instead of asking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The workshop emphasized the importance of direct customer conversations.  Businesses shouldn’t rely on assumptions. Instead, they should engage real people, uncover what they actually want, and let customers help shape the product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Differentiate or disappear<\/strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In crowded markets, being just \u201ca little better\u201d than the competition isn\u2019t enough. Colin challenged participants to rethink their value proposition: What makes your business truly different?<\/em> Colin challenged participants to take a hard look at their value proposition \u2014 and rethink what truly sets their business apart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Real connections drive real growth<\/strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

One message that resonated throughout the sessions: relationship-building is crucial. Tools like LinkedIn may start a conversation, but real growth happens through direct, ongoing interaction \u2013 messages, phone calls, in-person meetings, continuous feedback loops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Better communication leads to better understanding. And better understanding leads to better business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Are you investible?<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The second session focused on financing, funding and getting discovered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The workshop challenged participants to define their vision, identify the kind of capital they\u2019ll need, and consider what people or team are essential to make it all happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A powerful metaphor helped bring it all together:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThe team is the surfer, the company is the surfboard, and the market is the sea.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

To succeed, all three elements must move in sync. Without the right team, the best product can\u2019t ride the waves. Without a clear market, even the strongest team will wipe out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The message was clear: if you want funding, you need more than a good idea \u2014 you need a business that\u2019s ready to grow, communicate its value, and ride the momentum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Why should you join the next workshop?<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s what participants from the last sessions had to say:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cA key takeaway was that we need to think globally, not just within Finland.\u201d<\/em>
\u201cIt was a reminder to think big \u2013 and solve big problems.\u201d<\/em>
\u201cDefinitely worth it \u2013 Colin offers a fresh view on things.\u201d<\/em>
\u201cHe\u2019s hitting the point and brings the facts to the table.\u201d<\/em>
\u201cI got some great input on how to solve bigger problems at scale.\u201d<\/em>
\u201cWould definitely recommend this to every business ready to succeed and grow.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

These takeaways aren\u2019t just reflections \u2014 they\u2019re reasons to be in the room next time. If you\u2019re serious about building a scalable, investible business, you won\u2019t want to miss the next workshop with Colin Brown<\/strong> on June 9\u201310<\/strong> at Business Oulu Startup Station<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Join other ambitious founders at the next workshop. Read more and sign up here:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Workshop 3: NextHorizon coaching in an AI era – Workshop 3<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Workshop 4:<\/strong> NextHorizon coaching in an AI era – Workshop 4<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

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At a recent two-part workshop hosted at Business Oulu\u2019s Startup Station, entrepreneur coach Colin Brown helped founders and business leaders uncover what it really takes to grow a winning company. The events brought together a diverse group of participants to dive deep into the core challenges and growth opportunities for modern businesses \u2013 especially in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":207,"featured_media":15330,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"15375,13129,10705,15176,7162,13023","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-yleinen"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oulu.com\/ictoulu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oulu.com\/ictoulu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oulu.com\/ictoulu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oulu.com\/ictoulu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/207"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oulu.com\/ictoulu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15322"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/oulu.com\/ictoulu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15322\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15331,"href":"https:\/\/oulu.com\/ictoulu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15322\/revisions\/15331"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oulu.com\/ictoulu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oulu.com\/ictoulu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oulu.com\/ictoulu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oulu.com\/ictoulu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}